The COVID-19 pandemic has called on us all to support one another in new and unexpected ways. We’ve seen the best of our communities as they respond with courage, compassion and generosity.

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The rippling effects of the outbreak have pushed us to address both urgent needs and systemic gaps that impact countless individuals and families, and compound even more the challenges for vulnerable communities.

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As an organization dedicated to catalyzing bold and innovative solutions to help build resilient, thriving communities, we are focused on how to best support emergency response, recovery, and reinvention for long-term resilience.

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The breadth and depth of the challenges we face together require a broad range of tools including philanthropy, investments, and working capital for struggling businesses.

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In partnership with public offices, non-profits and community organizations, health institutions, and lenders, we prioritized supporting their incredible work in the following areas:

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• Food Access: School districts and five of the largest food banks statewide received grants to support their emergency response efforts to secure food, ramp up food distribution, and expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach to more families.

 

• Health Access: Major hospitals, hospital foundations, and telehealth providers received grants to respond to increased health needs for individuals and families on-site, and scale telehealth services to rural areas.

 

• Job and Emergency Resources: State and community resources like OnwardCO and local workforce centers received grants to expand their efforts to ensure more people can meet emergency needs for food, shelter, childcare, housing, jobs, and training.

 

• Access to Capital: Lending institutions and the State of Colorado are working hard to address gaps in funding for small and medium businesses particularly in rural areas and for businesses unable to qualify for federal relief. We’re partnering with non-profit lenders and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to deploy additional capital through bridge financing and emergency main street loans to help support workers statewide.

 

• Infrastructure and Coordination: Community foundations facilitating critical aid received grants to increase statewide coordination, enable efficient deployment of funds, and catalyze volunteers and donors with specific focus on expansion of services in rural areas.

 

We understand that the impacts of the pandemic will be long lasting. We are committed to continuing to support our partners and communities

 

Lucy Ana and Ben Walton